“You know, I haven’t thought of a single career path other than this,” I said to him. “I didn’t even think that I’d apply until last month. I thought it would be fruitless. And I had no plans. I don’t really get where you see the brains.”

Jensen chuckled hoarsely, coughing a little before he managed to get himself under control. “I have been a teacher at Atlantis for twenty-five years. Do you know who was the last student to be so stupidly determined?”

“With all due respect sir, if you say something crazy like Alpha Surge, I will throw you out of the highest window in this building,” I said lightly with a small smirk on my face.

Jensen smiled slightly, cleared his throat, and just stood up, dusted himself off–even though he had nothing on him–and just walked to the door. He made an ‘oh’ sound just before he opened it, turning back to me. “Legal work, economics, management, or computer science. You can get work at an Association through those, so you will be contributing to hero work.”

“Wait,” I said, fiddling with my gloves. “Was it really him?”

“Isn’t that a good question?” He winked at me as he opened the door, leaving me there.

Did he just compare me to Alpha Surge?

The most likely scenario was that he had simply been trying to cheer me up. Alpha Surge was almost larger than life, charismatic, good natured, a true hero. The ideal I wanted to achieve but knew was also so far away.

If there was a hero I couldn’t be compared to, it would be Alpha Surge. Mom came in after he left, and I told her that everything was fine. I explained what Jensen said to her, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Your father and I, we didn’t want you chasing down an impossible dream,” she said after a few moments of silence. “It’s too dangerous as well. We’ll be worried sick if you manage it. But we also know how much you want this. And what kind of parents would we be if we stood in the way of your dream?”

“I’m probably not going to make it.”

“Nonsense,” said my mother, actually scoffing at the idea. “The chance is always there, but if you go in expecting failure, failure is the only thing you’ll find. So promise me that you’ll do your best.”

“Mom-”

“Promise me.”

I clenched my fists. “I promise.”

I was discharged later that day. Apparently I was fine, physically speaking, and there’d be no lasting consequences. Still, I was all but ordered by the doctor to not strain myself, so I was stuck home for the rest of the day.

Calling Iraklis would be a bad idea–I was too tired to deal with that emotional situation–and I even tried Birgit in the hopes she could meet up and do something, but she didn’t pick up.

So my day consisted of me reading a book and a few comic books, as well as watching World Power Wrestling and staring at the ceiling. Sleep was a bit easier that night. I was back at my own room, and I had managed to unwind slightly from everything, although I did still see the same flashes that I had seen back at the hospital.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The same image appeared in my dreams yet again. I was outside of my body, looking down at it, while the heroes were fighting. I was trapped in the world of my vision, trapped in the ruined city. I was-I was dead.

I was-

“Oi,” Birgit’s voice broke me out of my thoughts. “Are you with me, Alex?”

It had been a week since the battle and July had just arrived. We’d been focused on our training, mainly trying to diversify how we use our power and Jensen’s regular programme. And now, we were back at the gym’s arena to check our progress. Jensen’s words, not mine.

I’d focused on learning to use it on surfaces and walls, and generally use the environment to my advantage. Birgit had been training to use her ice in smaller ways since every use brought her closer to hypothermia.

“Don’t worry, Birgit,” I said to her in English, smirking at her. “You’ll lose soon enough.”

“Your, ahem, witty banter, is neither witty nor factually correct,” she said lightly, although the temperature of the room dropped a little when she answered.

She gave no warning as she stretched out her right arm toward me. A chunk of ice followed it on the floor and shards of it shot toward me. I barely managed to duck and roll over in time.

“How’s that for progress, Alex?”

I touched the floor with both hands. The red line covered a large part of it in a few seconds. And the whole thing was in pieces. Dust surrounded me, and I could not see Birgit anywhere.

I swallowed down any worry I felt. This was the first time I’d used my power offensively. Granted, I hadn’t used it on Birgit, but it still felt wrong to use it like this. Maybe it was too much. And why hadn’t she given any signal she was alright? What-

“Birgit?” I said loudly before I could help it. I almost slapped my hand over my mouth, before remembering that I wasn’t wearing any gloves.

I felt the ice more than I heard it, rolling to my right and narrowly avoiding it. The room got even colder and in an instant, Birgit was on top of me. I hadn’t even had time to get up fully and she was there, putting her foot on my chest and pushing me down.

More ice came out of her foot, completely engulfing my chest and left shoulder. I couldn’t move my left arm and the moment I tried to move my right I knew she’d take care of that one too.

“Looks like you win,” I said in what I could only assume was clear disappointment. And it was barely even close. It hadn’t been that long since we’d started training, but I thought that I’d at least put up a better fight.

I looked up at Birgit who was smirking down at me.

“Fandens, du er en idiot,” she said quietly. Aside from the ‘idiot’ part, I couldn’t understand any words but if her tone of voice was anything to go by, she wasn’t complimenting me.

“I think we agreed last week that I suck at Danish,” I said lightly, still in English.

“You could have had me, you know,” she continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “If you hadn’t just stood around and called my name, who knows where we might be?”

“Birgit-”

“No! That was pretty stupid, don’t you agree?” Jensen wasn’t there to stop her, and I was starting to feel weird from the ice.

I’d probably not take any damage, considering my training shirt was specifically made to protect me in cases like this and Birgit had–I liked to think purposefully–covered areas that were fully protected.

Didn’t stop me from feeling the cold though, and I’d still need to take a long, long shower afterwards. One that’d be way more warm than I liked it.